Wolkite university

Chapter two

2.1

Electromagnetic waves

What are electromagnetic waves?

How electromagnetic waves are formed
How electric charges produce electromagnetic waves
Properties of electromagnetic waves
Electromagnetic Waves
Do not need matter to transfer energy.
Transverse waves without a medium!( They can travel through empty space)
Are made by vibrating electric charges and can travel through space by transferring
energy between vibrating electric and magnetic fields.
How do moving charges create magnetic fields?
Any moving electric charge is surrounded by an electric field and a magnetic field.
What happens when electric and magnetic fields change?
A changing magnetic field creates a changing electric field.
One example of this is a transformer which transfers electric energy from one circuit to
another circuit.
In the main coil changing electric current produces a changing magnetic field
Which then creates a changing electric field in another coil producing an electric
current
The reverse is also true.
Properties of EM Waves
All matter contains charged particles that are always moving; therefore, all objects emit
EM waves.
The wavelengths become shorter as the temperature of the material increases

Wolkite university
EM waves carry radiant energy
What is the speed of EM waves?
All EM waves travel 300,000 km/sec in space. (Speed of light-natures limit!)
EM waves usually travel slowest in solids and fastest in gases.
What is the wavelength & frequency of an EM wave?
Wavelength= distance from crest to crest.
Frequency= number of wavelengths that pass a given point in 1 s.
As frequency increases, wavelength becomes smaller.

They travel as vibrations in electrical and magnetic fields.

Have some magnetic and some electrical properties to them

Wolkite university
When an electric field changes, so does the magnetic field. The changing magnetic field
causes the electric field to change. When one field vibratesso does the other.
RESULT-An electromagnetic wave.

2.2 Black body radiation

A blackbody is a surface that
Completely absorbs all incident radiation
The theory of the energy distribution of blackbody radiation was developed by Planck and first
appeared in 1901.
Planck postulated that energy can be absorbed or emitted only in discrete units or photons
with energy
E= hv
The constant of proportionality is h = 6.626 1034J s.
A black body is an ideal body which allows the whole of the incident radiation to pass into it
(without reflecting the energy) and absorbs within itself this whole incident radiation (without
passing on the energy). This property is valid for radiation corresponding to all wavelengths and
to all angels of incidence. Therefore, the black body is an ideal absorber of incident radiation.
Perfect absorber
o

ideal body which absorbs all e.m. radiation that strikes it, any
wavelength, any intensity

Such a body would appear black black body

Must also be perfect emitter?

o

able to emit radiation of any wavelength at any intensity -- black-body

radiation
2.3 Photo electric effect

Wave theory cannot explain these phenomena, as the energy depends on the intensity
(brightness)
According to wave theory bright red light should work!
Einstein said that light travels in tiny packets called quanta.
E=hf
Where

h- planks constant

Wolkite university
F - Frequency
E - Energy
The energy of each quanta is given by its frequency
Each metal has a minimum energy needed for an electron to be emitted. This is known as
the work function, W.
So, for an electron to be emitted, the energy of the photon, hf, must be greater than the
work function, W.
The excess energy is the kinetic energy, E of the emitted electron.
2.4 X ray diffraction
A scattering of X-rays by the atoms of a crystal that produces an interference effect so that the
diffraction pattern gives information on the structure of the crystal or the identity of a crystalline
substance

Wolkite university

Wolkite university

Wolkite university

Wolkite university

The loss of energy and concomitant increase in wavelength of a usually high-energy

photon (as of X-rays or gamma rays) that occurs upon collision of the photon with an
electron

Wolkite university

2.6 pair production

The transformation of a quantum of radiant energy simultaneously into an electron and a
positron when the quantum interacts with the intense electric field near a nucleus
Formation of an electron and a positron from high-energy electromagnetic radiation
traveling through matter, usually in the vicinity of an atomic nucleus. It is a direct
conversion of radiant energy into matter in accordance with the equation E = mc2, where
E is the amount of energy, m is the mass, and c is the speed of light. It is one of the
principal ways in which high-energy gamma rays are absorbed in matter. The positrons
quickly disappear by being reconverted into photons in the process of annihilation with
other electrons. Pair production may sometimes refer to the formation of other
particle/antiparticle pairs as well.
Pair production is the dominant photon interaction at high energies (> 10 MeV)
In order to create a pair, the photon must have > 2me = 1.022 MeV
In order to conserve energy and momentum, pair production must take place in the
Coulomb field of a nucleus or electron
For nuclear field, Ethreshold > 2 x me
For atomic electron field, Ethreshold> 4 x me
Pair production is the dominant photon interaction at high energies (> 10 MeV)

Wolkite university

Energy and momentum conservation give

Wolkite university

Energy conservation can be re-written

But momentum conservation (x) shows

Thus energy and momentum are not simultaneously conserved